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Vengeance: Night of Champions
Vengeance: Night of Champions was a professional wrestling crossover pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) within both the Vengeance and Night of Champions chronologies. It was the seventh annual Vengeance event and the first annual Night of Champions event. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The event was sponsored by Raw Attitude Energy Drink and took place on June 24, 2007, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Every match on the card was contested for a championship; two were won and seven were retained. This event was notable for being on the weekend of the Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide case. Benoit was originally booked to face CM Punk for the vacant ECW World Championship, but never showed up. The main event featured the Raw brand. It saw John Cena defend the WWE Championship against Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, and King Booker. Cena won the match and retained the WWE Championship after pinning Foley following an FU. The featured match from the SmackDown brand was a "Last Chance match" for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Batista, which Edge won by countout. The primary match from the ECW brand was CM Punk versus Johnny Nitro for the vacant ECW World Championship, which Nitro won by pinfall after performing a corkscrew neckbreaker from the middle rope. Storylines The main feud on Raw heading into the event was between WWE Champion John Cena, Bobby Lashley, King Booker, Mick Foley, and Randy Orton. The feud began when Lashley was drafted to Raw and stripped of the ECW World Championship. After being stripped of the title, Lashley began to pursue the WWE Championship. On the June 18 episode of Raw, Foley, Orton, Booker, and Lashley all cut promos on why they deserve to be the number-one contender to the WWE Championship. Cena also cut a promo on who he believed deserved to be the number one contender to the championship. Following this, Interim General Manager Jonathan Coachman announced that all five men would compete for the title in a match billed as the "WWE Championship Challenge" at Vengeance. The main feud heading into Vengeance on SmackDown was between World Heavyweight Champion Edge and Batista. Their match stemmed from their Steel cage match at One Night Stand, three weeks before Vengeance, where Edge won by escaping the cage. On the June 8 episode of SmackDown, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that Edge would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista in a "Last Chance" match at Vengeance. On the June 22 episode of SmackDown!, Batista and Ric Flair defeated Edge and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). Midway through the match, Flair and MVP brawled outside the ring, leaving Edge on his own against Batista. Batista gained the pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb on Edge. The feud between The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch began at Backlash. At the event, The Hardys defeated Cade and Murdoch to retain the World Tag Team Championship. At the following event, Judgment Day, Matt and Jeff defeated Cade and Murdoch once again to retain the title. Aftermath The scheduled June 25 episode of Raw was going to be a three-hour memorial to "Mr. McMahon". However, due to the actual death of Chris Benoit, the show opened with McMahon standing in an empty arena, acknowledging that his reported death was only of his character as part of a storyline. This was followed by a tribute to Benoit that filled the three-hour timeslot. Once the details of Benoit's actions became apparent, WWE made the decision to remove nearly all mentions of Benoit from their website, from future broadcasts and all publications. Chavo Guerrero went on to defend the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in a Cruiserweight Open at The Great American Bash against Jimmy Wang Yang, Jamie Noble, Funaki, and Shannon Moore. Hornswoggle also entered the match at the bell, but immediately escaped the ring and hid under it. With all of the cruiserweights down, with the exception of Noble, Hornswoggle came out from under the ring and delivered a Tadpole Splash to Noble. He pinned him afterwards to win the match and the Cruiserweight Championship. Candice Michelle and Melina continued to feud over the WWE Women's Championship. The two had a rematch at The Great American Bash for the title. Michelle pinned Melina after delivering a Candy Wrapper to retain the title. On the July 2 episode of Raw, Umaga defeated Santino Marella in a rematch to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Two weeks later, Jeff Hardy defeated William Regal, Shelton Benjamin, and Santino Marella in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match to become the number one contender to the Intercontinental Championship. At The Great American Bash, Umaga defeated Hardy to retain the title after the Samoan Spike. That same night, Bobby Lashley won a "Beat the Clock" tournament to become the number-one contender to the WWE Championship. At The Great American Bash, Lashley faced John Cena for the WWE Championship in the main event. Cena retained the title after an FU from the top rope. On the June 26 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, CM Punk defeated Elijah Burke in a two out of three falls match to become the number one contender to the ECW Championship. At The Great American Bash, Punk faced John Morrison (formerly known as Johnny Nitro) for the ECW Championship. Morrison retained the title after hitting Punk with both of his knees. On the July 6 episode of SmackDown, Kane was named the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship after he appeared as the special guest on Edge's Cutting Edge segment. Edge held a celebration for himself on the July 13 episode of SmackDown, and was attacked by Kane, who in the process legitimately injured Edge. On the July 20 episode of SmackDown, Edge was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship as a result of his injury. The Great Khali went on to win a 20-man battle royalto become the new World Heavyweight Champion. At The Great American Bash, Khali defended the title successfully against Kane and Batista in a Triple Threat match. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Vengeance * Night of Champions Category:Vengeance Category:Night of Champions Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2007 Pay-Per-View Events